venerdì 26 ottobre 2007

His then was the situation encountered by Christianity when it began arriving in (what is often called) ‘pagan’ Europe during the 2nd through 8th centuries. Upwards of 3000 years had passed since megalithic times yet the influences of that era were still felt. Larger social centers had developed around many of the ancient megalithic settlement sites and the archaic stone rings, dolmens and earthen mounds continued to play a significant role in the religious life of the different pagan communities. While the pagan’s understandings of earth energies were perhaps diluted by thousands of years of cultural infusions, their mythologies and religious traditions were very often still associated with the megalithic sacred sites, and particular periods in different solar, lunar and astrological cycles (discovered during the megalithic era) were celebrated with festivities, maypole dancing and fertility goddess holy days.This continuing and powerful attraction which pagan people felt for their sacred places deeply disturbed the Christian authorities. This is evidenced by an edict of Aries in 452 AD:If any infidel either lighted torches, or worshipped trees, fountains, or stones, or neglected to destroy them, he should be found guilty of sacrilege. In the early centuries of the Christian era there was a wholesale destruction of pagan shrines at the sacred places. However, as the Christian church slowly recognized they could not catholicize the pre-existing cultures merely through the use of brute force, they developed the method of securing religious control of the people by placing churches and monastery foundations upon the pagan's sacred sites.go to the site:

mercoledì 10 ottobre 2007

Medieval banquetsThere’s so much to explore in the setting of this fabulous Grade I listed Historic Hotel. Enjoy the sumptuous stately rooms and the beautiful landscaped gardens. Dreamily beautiful Littlecote House has hosted King Charles II and Elizabeth I. It was here that Henry VIII wooed Jane Seymour. This atmospheric house spans the centuries, with its beautiful Roman Orpheus mosaic and Cromwellian chapel. Explore its ancient rooms, relax in the pool, and enjoy live nightly entertainment.http://www.historic-uk.com/StayUK/CastleBreaks.htm

lunedì 8 ottobre 2007

Denmark probably has the largest amount of medieval wall paintings in Europe. In Danish they are called Kalkmalerier = Chalk paintings, as they are painted on a layer of limewash.Denmark has about 1700 preserved medieval churches. Most of them has probably been decorated with wall paintings. Today we have about 600 churches with visible paintings and there are probably many undiscovered paintings behind the many layers of limewash which was used during the 18th and 19th centuries to cover the paintings. The oldest paintings from 1100-1300 are of Romanesque type and were painted by painters imported from south Europe, but during 1300 - 1600 it changed to a Gothic style and Danish painters took over and developed their own style.During the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th century, some of the pintings were destroyed but fortunatelly most of them was just covered with a layer of whitewashDuring the 19th and 20th century these cultural treasures has been rediscovered. Some of them as late as during the last centuries.

martedì 2 ottobre 2007

Did any of the native rulers of Wales issue their own coins and how does the experience of Wales compare with that of other Celtic countries?

There is a half a chapter on numismatics in the book by Ian Jack:Jack, R. Ian. Medieval Wales. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1972. ISBN 0 340 12694 9.Jack has a couple of pages on the coin struck for Hywel Dda in the 10th century and briefly discusses claims that other Welsh princes issued coins. The only one of these that Jack attaches much credence to is a report by Edward Lhuyd in 1698 that the Bishop of Bangor told him that one of his relations had possessed a coin issued by Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, or Llywelyn the Great, (who became Prince of Gwynedd in about 1197 and extended his rule over much of the rest of Wales in the next two decades, his reign ending with his death in 1240). Lhyud said that the Bishop (whose knowledge of Old Welsh was claimed by Lhyud himself to be even greater than his own) had shown the coin to many of his acquaintances who confirmed his story.Lhuyd's account seems to imply that the coin had unfortunately been lost by the time he was told the story. Jack is much more sceptical of claims for coin production by other Welsh princes and concludes his discussion of the minting activities of native princes thus: "the evidence amounts to one virtually certain coin, one very doubtful coin of a doubtful prince, one well-attested lost piece of Llywelyn the Great and some lost triangular curiosities. With Norman and Angevin mintings in Wales, the evidence, though still uncomfortably scanty, is much more circumstantial." (page 201). English coins may have circulated in Wales to some extent before the conquest, but even as late as the 14th century payment in cattle was still very common. (See Davies, R.R. The age of conquest: Wales 1063-1415. Oxford: O.U.P.,1987).go to the site:www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/welsh.html